Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s most trusted bureaucrat, V.K. Pandian, is the latest target of the Opposition in the State. Recently, based on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Aparajita Sarangi and BJP State President Manmohan Samal, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) urged the Odisha Chief Secretary to address Mr. Pandian’s alleged violations of The All India Services (Conduct) Rules.
The complaint was related to Mr. Pandian’s whirlwind tour in June of different districts, including Keonjhar, Bargarh, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak, Rayagada, Balasore, and Kandhamal. The complaint by Ms. Sarangi and Mr. Samal, lodged on June 24 with the DoPT, said, “Mr. Pandian is moving around the State using State plane/helicopter and attending public reception. He is announcing new projects and as per his own claims, all this on the instruction of [the] CM. This is done in clear violation of Rule 5(I) and Rule 12 (I) of AISC Rules...”
Subsequently, leaders of other parties joined the chorus. Former Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik, who is now Campaign Committee Chairman of the Odisha Congress, also wrote a complaint to the DoPT on June 27 stating, “No serving officer is permitted under the AISC Rules to represent a political functionary at a public meeting.”
Both the BJP and the Congress said the elaborate security measures and protocols that accompany each of Mr. Pandian’s visits closely resemble the arrangements made for Chief Ministers and Union Ministers and that the line between a politician and a bureaucrat has been blurred.
Mr. Pandian is a Tamil Nadu-born IAS officer of the 2000 batch. He was serving as district collector of Ganjam before he was shifted to the Chief Minister’s Office in 2011 where he developed a personal rapport with Mr. Naveen Patnaik. Though he initially had the reputation of being reticent and elusive, Mr. Pandian has been leading more from the front of late. He is often seen in public with the Chief Minister. He was also seen standing behind Mr. Naveen Patnaik in some rare photographs shot at the Chief Minister’s residence.
Mr. Pandian’s schedules are meticulously planned. He travels by helicopter and hears the grievances of the public. The local Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leadership is allegedly assigned to mobilise crowds for every meeting that he attends. During a recent visit to Keonjhar district, nine temporary helipads were kept ready for the officer. Party sources said that senior ministers and BJD leaders look for opportunities to meet Mr. Pandian. Over the years, the image of him being the ‘gateway’ to the Chief Minister has only strengthened.
It is this extraordinary influence that Mr. Pandian holds in the State that has come under scrutiny not just from the Opposition, but also from sections of the BJD.
Though there were murmurs of resentment among the old guard of the BJD about Mr. Pandian’s rising prominence and their own growing irrelevance, a recent front-page editorial by a powerful BJD MLA and media baron, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, laid bare the fault-lines in the party. He asked “whether calling the shots in matters of administration and politics on behalf of the Chief Minister was a politically wise step”.
The official reaction of the party to the Opposition’s allegations and to the editorial has been sharp. Party sources said Mr. Pandian was sent on the tour to expedite development projects. To illustrate their point, nearly all the BJD spokespersons and senior leaders shared videos on social media where Mr. Pandian is seen addressing people and announcing projects in different districts. Meanwhile, Anubhav Patnaik, a former BJD MLA, accused Mr. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik of being “ungrateful and unreliable” and said he was aiming to become a Minister. The media baron has also been accused of being opportunistic and going in whichever direction the wind blows.
Given the criticism about his tour, Mr. Pandian was forced to clarify that it was the Chief Minister who asked him and other officials to supervise development work. As proof, he played a recorded voice message purportedly of Mr. Naveen Patnaik sanctioning him to tour Bargarh.
Though it is too early to say whether the bureaucrat will succeed Mr. Naveen Patnaik in the BJD which has no second-rung leadership, the Odisha Chief Minister has sent out the message that his private secretary is his most trusted aide, said journalist Rabi Das.
